Ad rates for new shows are based on projected ratings and demographics. It's a crap shoot and advertisers are willing to take that risk when they make their initial deals. eta: what Namaste said. As for the biggest drops of the season, it's interesting to me that five of them are on Wednesday night. Nevermind that three of them are the full primetime lineup on ABC. In a month, once Fox has had to settle on a lineup and NBC's long done with the reality and, I'm praying to the TV Gods, "Knight Rider" follows in the footsteps of "The Bionic Woman", I wonder where we'll be on that night.

Buzz and clutter. If your ad is one of 4 during a commercial break, it is more likely to be remembered by viewers than one of 8 or 10. You also have to figure out how much of all that is hype. My guess would be that House sold a large percentage of it's national ads during the upfronts. If there isn't much inventory left, advertisers who didn't want to make the commitment would be more likely to pay the full rate to get in as the season progresses. If inventory is low enough, you can even sell it only if they buy a package -- you can buy 6 slots on House for $260k only if you also buy 4 on The Sarah Connor Chronicles sort of thing. Finally, there are make-goods (which you hear about in the mainstream press mainly when the Super Bowl has low viewership). When you buy an ad, the rate you pay is based on reaching a certain audience. If the audience for a show falls short of what was promised, the network will have to give the advertiser free ads to make good on their promised delivery. Fox would have factored the new time slot in House's promised delivery. But The Fringe was an unknown -- if it bombs, Fox will be handing out lots and lots of free advertising.

Thank you everyone for educating me on how the advertising works. The extent of my knowledge was knowing an advertiser would pay more for a show or event that would draw a large audience but that's about it. Pretty interesting stuff. Does anyone have a guess where House is going to end up in January after Idol starts (it starts in Jan, right?)? Now that Fringe has been picked up for the year, I bet they keep it right where it is at to pick up the momentum from Idol similar to what they did with House. On a side note, it seems Mentalist is doing well so far (I have watched it and like it and think the lead guy has a good presence) and think it is going to offer some competition. That would mean that House would move to a new day. Anyone?

I seem to remember hearing something about House moving to Monday, not sure though.

I thought the plan was to put House back in it's old timeslot when AI started but I could be wrong. Or Fox could be re-thinking it. Fox would have factored the new time slot in House's promised delivery. House was also on at 8 when it was the lead-in for Stand-off in season 3 and IIRC didn't drop much lower in ratings than it had had at 9. Fox was probably expecting similar ratings, not thinking that people were having to get used to a new team as well as a new time slot.

The original announcement for January had House moving to Wednesdays at 8pm, before the AI results show. Fringe stayed on Tuesdays at 9pm. Mondays were for 24 and one of Prison Break, Terminator, or Dollhouse (can't remember which). Bones would move to Friday. Of course, Fox's January plans are always subject to change because their fall schedule rarely survives intact to January :) I would really like to see either AI move to Wed/Thu or their action night move to Thursdays so that Mon or Tue could be a mystery (House, Bones, Fringe, etc.) night all season. But I don't think it will ever happen...

And FWIW, I no longer fall in among the preferred demographics but I bet my spending habits would put them to shame. I am a baby boomer and I think they should extend the 18-49 to 18-59 or maybe I just feel left out.

There are a few reasons for the demographic targets. 1) Advertisers tend to think that, with the exception of denture cream, adult diapers and retirement packages, people don't buy anything new after they're 50. And for other products, they've already made their brand selections and won't change them. 2) Media jobs at ad agencies are filled with young kids, just out of school making itsy, bitsy salaries. They like seeing the ads they're responsible for on the TV shows and in the magazines they and their friends they and their friends watch/read. 3) Some demographic groups are more difficult to target than others. One of the most difficult are Men age 18-34. They don't watch a lot of TV or read a lot of magazines. So if you have a product that appeals to them, you can charge a premium for them. (Affluent audiences are also very tough to reach.)

The LA Times talks about this year's ratings in general, which networks made the right choices and which didn't, and mentions "House" and "Fringe" specifically. True, ratings are down for "House" compared with last year, probably because fewer people are watching TV at 8 p.m. than later in the evening. And "Fringe" could prove a fake hit, a show that looks promising but can only exist as a "satellite show" behind something stronger, like "House." For now Fox executives look as if they may enjoy a net gain from a clever scheduling play, emerging with two strong dramas instead of one.

tvbythenumbers.com has the DVR numbers for 5x01: Live: 12.76M Live+same day: 14.77M (I got this from the weekly ratings) Live+7: 16.82M

Well, I don't have the Live+7 numbers from last year for comparison. I remember House was usually near the top of the #DVR viewers rankings, but I don't remember numbers as big as 4M...

I am pissed there's no new show tonight!! Dammit! Why am I always the last to know!! I assume this is cause of the debates? Crap! :x

You're not the last, or at least not the only. There are a bunch of pissed off people on the Fox board. thefutoncritic.com is your friend If they don't have an episode name by the date, the schedule is tentative/a guess on the part of futon critic. Fox only announces their detailed schedules a couple weeks in advance.